Pokemon: Crystal's Journey
by Butterfly Girl 1331
Summary: A new girl with a special gift heads out on her journey. With all of the stresses, trials, and difficulties that come along with being a Pokemon trainer, will she be able to suceed?
1. The Setting Off

Pokemon: Crystal's Journey You abuse me, I report you. Simple math, actually. Mind my feeble attempts at Pokemon talk please. And at Pokedex entries.  
  
The sun peeked through the teenage girl's window. Purple curtains merely dulled the brightness of the sun's rays. As they shone on the sleeping girl, she stirred beneath her purple blankets. Opening dark brown eyes, she stared at the calendar across the room. Suddenly she jumped up. "Yeyah today's the day!" she yelled wildly.  
"Crystal, we know. Now you may want to get dressed and eat before you leave..." Sapphire, her mother, yelled up the stairs.  
"Um...THANKS MOM!" Crystal yelled. She quickly threw on her lilac colored baby tee and baggy blue jeans. Grabbing her backpack, she ran down the stairs to the kitchen.  
Crystal was the middle of a family of 5 children. Ruby, her brother who was 17, and Amethyst, her older sister who was 16, were Pokemon trainers. Only Amethyst was still on her journey, Ruby had returned home long before she had left. His Ivysaur still ran around the yard, caring for the garden like it was his child. Her younger sisters, Jewel and Opal, were so alike they could be mistaken as twins. Opal, 10, was convinced she would rule the world of Pokemon one day. Jewel, 5, was just happy dragging the attention off of her siblings to herself.  
Even though she loved her sisters and brother dearly, Crystal just felt out of place in her family. She was the only one who got her paturnal grandmother's dark purple hair, and the only one who ever wanted to grow her hair out to her waist. She also was the only one with her mother's dark brown eyes, and the only one of the 3 older kids that refused to get contacts. Crystal liked her apperance with her glasses, and didn't want to get rid of them. Crystal was also the only one that was able to understand Pokemon naturally.  
But natural ability or not, her parents were strict about enforcing their rule for, "Not going on a Pokemon journey until you are 15." So Crystal waited patiently until May 19th came and she too could go on her journey.  
Today was that day.  
Ruby was sitting at the table, slowly eating a bowl of cereal. Ivysaur sat below him, eating a bowlfull of Pokefood. Opal was making some concoction of Cheeze Whiz and cereal and Jewel was playing with a Rattata doll on the floor. Crystal quickly grabbed a cereal and milk bar, practically inhaling it.  
Her father, Jade, walked in and saw her demolishing the breakfast bar. "Crys...relax you have plenty of time!"  
Crystal swallowed and smiled. "Dad, I only have 10 minutes and I still have to pack!"  
"No you don't," was heard from the table. Jade and Crystal turned to Ruby. He looked up and smiled. "I remembered what I needed for my journey and wanted to help, so Ivysaur and i packed for you." Ivysaur then pushed a brown backpack to Crystal  
"Ivy! IvySAUR!" he called out.  
Crystal bent over and petted Ivysaur on his blue head. "Aw...thanks Ivysaur. And you take care of my family and that garden for me, ya hear?"  
"SAUR! IvySAUR!"  
She laughed. "I know you'll do your best little guy."  
Ruby cleared his throat. "Remember Crystal, Professor Maple has many starter Pokemon you can pick from. Don't choose lightly. All but 3 can be caught in the wild, but I'm really not sure which ones they are. And they now can tell the gender of Pokemon in each species, not just Nidoran...And..."  
Laughter was heard from his 15-year-old sister as she stood up, trying to look taller than 5'3". "Jeeze Ruby, I KNOW all of this! And before you say it, watch for wild Pokemon, they can just jump ya, you can only carry six pokemon, don't ever let ALL your Pokemon faint or you lose and hafta pay your opponent half your money, watch your money carefully so you can buy potions and antidotes and such to care for your Pokemon, watch for cities as they have Pokecenters and Pokemarts...Need I go on?"  
Opal burst out laughing. "Rube, let her be, she knows just as much as I do, and you KNOW I'm gonna be the Pokemon Master!"  
Jewel tugged on Crystal's jean leg. "Crys...I want you to have this..." The tiny girl held up a Squirtle doll.  
Crystal kneeled down again. "Jewel...this is your favorite doll..."  
Jewel nodded. "That's why I want you to have it. You will be far away and may get homesick. Squirtle will be there then to make you feel better, as he's a gift from me!"  
Crystal could have cried at how sweet her sister was. Hugging her, she said, "I'll keep it with me the whole way, Jewel, you can count on that."  
Sapphire cleared her throat. "Crys...now you only have 5 minutes..."  
"AAUUGGHH!!" was heard from the purple haired girl in question.  
"Relax Sweetie. You go get your Pokemon and we'll get the rest of your stuff together!" Opal yelled. Jewel cheered and chased after her sister.  
At her slightly fearful expression, Sapphire laughed. "We'll fix it all when they're not looking, but you must first get to Professor Maple's lab!"  
Crystal nodded and ran out the door.  
~~~~~~~~/~~~~~\~~~~~~@  
Professor Maple looked up at the sudden ringing of his doorbell. Laughing slightly, the man placed the last Pokeball on the table and answered the door. "Crystal Lyte, right on time i see."  
"Yes, Professor, though I just barely made it," Crystal said as she walked in.  
"Now, let's get on to business," the middle aged man said.  
He and Crystal walked over to a tabletop hooked up to a computer. The table had 18 Pokeballs on it, pairs of which were in groups of three. Professor Maple typed a command into the computer, pulling up a list of 9 Pokemon species "Now, Crystal, you know you can have one Pokemon of these 9 species, of whichever gender you choose. Have you decided?"  
"I've narrowed it down to two. If you can answer one question, I'll have the decision."  
"And the question is?"  
"Which three cannot be found in the wild normally in this region?"  
"Mudkip, Cydnaquil, and Charmander."  
"Then I'll take a Mudkip. I can catch a Chikorita."  
"Nice choice. What gender?"  
"Doesn't matter, whichever you pick up first."  
Professor Maple picked up a ball, quickly scanning it with the computer. He then handed the Pokeball to Crystal. "It's a male. You can take it out of it's ball if you want."  
Crystal nodded. "COME ON OUT!" she yelled as she threw her Mudkip's ball.  
The blue mudfish Pokemon landed on his feet, staring at his owner. "Mudkip??"  
"Yes, I'm your trainer little guy."  
"Mudkip? Kip. Mud kip! Kip!"  
Crystal laughed. "I'm glad to be your trainer, and I'm sure glad you like me already!"  
Professor Maple laughed. "I have NEVER seen a Trainer able to communicate with her Pokemon so soon!"  
"Call it a gift I guess..."  
"Mudkip! Mud mud kip! Kip kip! Mudkip!"  
"He's glad I have my gift, he likes being understood by a human."  
"Well, Crystal, that will DEFINATELY prove an advantage for you during your journey. But now I think your family wants to meet your Pokemon and send you off well. Here are your six Pokeballs and your Pokedex. Good luck you two, you have my best wishes."  
"Thanks Professor Maple, BYE!" she called as she took the things offered to her and ran off, her Mudkip right behind.  
~~~~~~~~/~~~~~\~~~~~~@  
On the way back to her house, Crystal asked Mudkip, "So, do you mind if I give you a nickname?"  
"Mudkip."  
"Okay then...how about...Charlie?"  
"MUDKIP!!!" he cried happily.  
"Then I now nickname you Charlie!"  
"Mud KIP!" Charlie flashed the biggest smile a Mudkip could.  
Jewel and Opal met them at the door, the others joining them when they heard the young girls' cheers of joy.  
"Is that your Pokemon?" Jewel asked.  
"Yep. He's a Mudkip that I call Charlie."  
Sapphire kneeled in front of Charlie. "Well hello there little guy, I'm Crys's mother."  
"Mudkip! Mud mud mud mudkip!"  
"What is he saying?" Opal asked.  
"He said, 'Whoa! You have a big family!"  
Ruby laughed. "And ya haven't seen one of us yet!"  
Ivysaur walked over to Charlie, sniffing him carefully. "Ivysaur! Ivysaur SAUR!"  
"Mudkip!"  
Crystal smiled brightly. "They like each other!"  
Her family laughed, then all went inside. Each member had a gift for the new duo to help them on their journey. Ruby gave her a special necklace that was supposed to repel the effects of Jigglypuff's sing attack, knowing she wanted to catch a Jigglypuff. Sapphire gave her plenty of food, water, and supplies she'd need for both her and Charlie. Jade gave her 3 pokeballs, 2 great balls, and an ultra ball, to make sure she'd have enough. Both her parents also gave her 1,000 coins, which was equal to a third of what she had saved up. Opal gave her a Thunder Stone, which she had been given to by a kid at her school.  
"I don't want a Raichu ever, so it's useless to me!" she had said.  
Jewel had already given her a gift, but insisted on also giving her a potion she had bought while Crystal was at the lab.  
"Thank you SO much you guys!" Crystal said, smiling brightly.  
"IvySAUR! SAUR!" was heard. The family looked down to see Ivysaur drag a bag over to Charlie. They all recognize it as a bag of Pokefood.  
"Mudkip!" Charlie cried, rubbing heads with Ivysaur and rushing to the food.  
Crystal picked up the tiny Pokemon. "Charlie, you can't eat it ALL now, but you can have some now while my brother tells me how the HECK this Pokedex works!" She poured some food into a bowl from her bag and placed it on the floor beside Charlie. The little Mudkip immediately tackled the food like it would get up and run away if he didn't consume it then and there.  
Ruby picked up her Pokedex and carefully looked it over. "It's easy. To scan a Pokemon, just push the blue button. For quick information on a Pokemon, such as gender, level, and ability, push the pink button. You can find out a Pokemon's attacks by pushing the yellow button and your trainer info is accessed by the green one."  
Crystal smiled as her brother handed back her Pokedex. "Sweet! Let me try it!" She held it, pointing it towards Charlie, pushing the blue button.  
  
Mudkip, the mudfish Pokemon. The fin on Mudkip's head acts as highly sensitive radar. Using this fin to sense movements of water and air, this Pokemon can determine what is taking place around it without using its eyes.  
  
Opal laughed. "So it can tell what will happen BEFORE it happens?"  
"One, Charlie's a he. Two, he's not physic." Rolling her eyes, Crystal hit the yellow button.  
  
Mudkip Level 5's attacks are tackle and growl.  
  
Crystal groaned softly. "That COULD be a problem..."  
"Not really, Crys. When Ivysaur was just a tiny Bulbasaur and I had first recieved him, he only had those attacks. Now he's even got solarbeam!"  
Her eyes lit up again. "That's a relief...I know Charlie's strong but still...not a great selection..."  
Charlie jumped into Crystal's lap and nudged her arm. "Mudkipkipkip...kip."  
She hugged the little Pokemon, laughing. "Charlie's right, we'd better get going if we're gonna get anywhere before nightfall!"  
Crystal and Charlie picked up their things, hugged their family goodbye, and headed out the door.  
Ruby rushed forward, yelling, "WAIT! DON'T FORGET THAT SOME POKEMON REFUSE THEIR POKEBALLS SOON AFTER CAPTURE AND WON'T RETURN TO IT IF YOU CALL IT!"  
She just waved to her brother. "Don't worry! What's the worse that could happen???"  
Ruby shook his head as Charlie and Crystal ran off down the road. "Half your team or more decides to be rebels..." he muttered. 


	2. Off to a Good Start

Pokemon: Crystal's Journey  
You abuse me, I report you. Simple math, actually. Mind my feeble attempts at Pokemon talk please. And at Pokedex entries. Pie is the ending sound on Caterpie, and is pronounced as such. When I saw the show, that's all I EVER heard a Caterpie say, so that's what I'm going by. If ya don't like it, go do your own Pokemon fic and make YOUR Caterpie  
say what YOU want.  
  
Crystal and Charlie sat on a nearby log, both panting and laughing.  
"Man, Charlie. That was a blast!" Crystal said when she could breathe again.  
"MudKIP!" Charlie said, doing the Mudkip version of a laugh.  
The duo had just raced through the first part of the forest, avoiding a group of not-so-tame Pidgey. After climbing across a river, they parked on a log.  
Crystal lived in a region where all the types of Pokemon could be found, called Miora. There were 4 towns and 7 cities, with the gyms being in all the cities and the largest town. Crystal and her family lived in Lima Town, a tiny town on the midwestern coast of Miora. Her sister, Amethyst, was last heard of outside of Koreno Town, on the southern coast.  
Amethyst was the one that Crystal had always looked up to. Her dream was to become the Champion of the Miora Pokemon League. Although Crystal respected her for that dream, she did not share it. Crystal just wanted the chance to learn as much as she could about Pokemon--to get to travel, live without modern luxurties, and to have nothing but the supplies she could carry and her Pokemon to talk to. According to her mother, Amethyst was going to try to meet up with Crystal sooner or later, as she also had a gift for her.  
Crystal picked up Charlie, putting him into her lap. "So, Charlie. Do you want to add some more Pokemon to our team?"  
"Mudkip. Mudmud kip, Mud kip. Kip kip."  
She laughed. "A big team, huh? Well, any Pokemon you want to have help you out?"  
"Mud...kip kip. Kip mudkip! Kip mudmud. Kip..."  
"Whoa, slow down there little guy! So you'd like to travel with a Butterfree, a Sandslash...and a Chikorita?"  
"MudKIP!"  
"I'm just glad we agree on Pokemon. Those are 3 I want to catch!  
Charlie suddenly looked up, his head fin vibrating slightly. Crystal also looked up, and, at seeing Charlie's intent gaze, she looked in that direction. The bushes were shaking. Suddenly a Catterpie crawled out. Charlie turned to Crystal, looking eager.  
She nodded. He hopped off of her lap quietly and slowly crept up to the Caterpie, waiting for the command.  
The little Caterpie turned around, looking confused. "Pie Pie??"  
Crystal took out her Pokedex, hitting the pink button  
  
Caterpie, Female, level 3. Bug type.  
  
She nodded in approval. "CHARLIE! tackle attack, now!"  
"MUDKIP!" he yelled as he tackled the unsuspecting Caterpie.  
"PPIIEE!!" the Caterpie yelled, shooting out a sticky strand at Charlie.  
"CHARLIE! That's her string shot, DODGE, THEN TACKLE!"  
Charlie jumped upwards, just barely missing the attack. He then tackled the Caterpie in the head, flipping her backwards a few feet.  
The Caterpie cried as it hit a tree, then fell over, fainted.  
"Pokeball! Go!" Crystal yelled, throwing the ball. The little Caterpie disappeared into the ball. It shook three times, then the glowing light went out with a distictive "PING" sound. Crystal jumped up and down, excited.  
"YES! I GOT A CATERPIE!" Crystal screamed. Pidgey flew out of the trees as Ratatta ran full force from the area.  
Charlie tugged at her leg. "Mudmudmud mudkip. Kipkip mudkip."  
Crystal glared at him, a smile on her face. "Be nice, she's the first I ever caught!"  
Charlie good-naturedly rolled is eyes. "Mud KIP!"  
"Okay okay, I understand that if I don't be quiet I'll scare away all the Pokemon in the area and we'll NEVER catch another..."  
"Mudkip."  
"You're pretty spunky for such a little guy...anyways let's say hello to our new friend!" Crystal threw up the Pokeball. "COME ON OUT, CATERPIE!" she yelled.  
The Pokeball opened, releasing a red light. From the red light emerged Caterpie. She looked around a little, weak and confused.  
Crystal kneeled down next to it. "Hey little one, relax..." she said, gently spraying some of her potion on it. Caterpie winced. "...Okay, I guess that stuff must sting like that spray Mom used to spray on my scrapes when I was little..."  
Caterpie, blinking twice, flashed her version of a smile to Crystal. "PIE!"  
"I take it you're feeling better...no hard feelings now, right?"  
"Mudkip, mudmudkip?"  
"Pie! Piepipie!" was accented with a shake of her head.  
A sigh escaped from the female trainer. "Thank goodness...I'm Crystal, and this is Charlie...he won't attack you anymore--for the record."  
Caterpie nodded. "Pie...piepie...pipie??"  
"Help you...with what???"  
"Pie pie pi pie pi piepipie."  
"You wanna be a Butterfree? Hey, no prob there Caterpie! You're a bug-type Pokemon, which are known for evolving quickly. With some training, you'll be a Butterfree soon enough. And if Charlie here wants to evolve into...the next form of a Mudkip..."  
"Kipkip, Mud, Kipkip..."  
"...Yeah, Marshtomp...or the...top form..."  
"Mudkip, Mud, Mudkip..."  
"...Right, Swampert, he can too...What I'm trying to say I guess is I'm not gonna force you guys to evolve if you don't want to...I know you two evolve by the natural mean--gaining enough experience--, but if you guys evolved by Stones, I wouldn't force you to evolve. I hate it when people make me do what they want merely cause they want me to, so I'm not doing that to you guys."  
Apparently Crystal's statement hit home to the little Caterpie. She crawled up onto her shoulder and nuzzled her head against Crystal's cheek. "Pie! PiePIE!"  
Crystal giggled. "No prob, Caterpie...you want a nickname?" At Caterpie's shake of her little green head, she added, "Then Caterpie it is...until ya evolve of course."  
Mudkip smiled. "Mud, mudkip kip kipkip mudmudkip, kip?"  
"No, Charlie, we're not alone anymore. Caterpie's on our team now."  
"MudKIP!!!!" he cheered happily.  
"PIE!" Caterpie joined in.  
Crystal looked down at Charlie. "If you want me to carry you, I will. And before I forget, you were AWESOME battling today, that was GREAT for your first battle little guy!"  
Charlie shook his head, turning away from his trainer. "Mud, mudkip kip mud, kip MUD mud kip kipkip mud mudkip, mud mud mudkip kip," he said sarcastically.  
Caterpie promptly string shot his head for that comment. "PIE PIE PIEPIE!"  
Crystal immediately stepped in "ENOUGH BOTH OF YOU! Yes, Charlie, you did well and you can walk if you wish, just don't be a sore winner. And Caterpie, we do not attack our teammates. EVER. Both of you understand?" The Pokemon nodded. "Good. Now Charlie, if you come here, I'll get that sticky mess off your head. Honestly, you look like a Castform from here!"  
After removing the remains of string shot from her Mudkip's head and getting a relative idea of where she was, Crystal turned back to her Pokemon. "Okay, I'll give you guys your food, then I'll make mine...after I start a campfire of course. It's getting late, and it'd be better if we just stayed here for the night. That way, we know we're in a safe area with water nearby, and won't be lost in the dark later on. but first, if Caterpie can point us in the general direction of the river, and if you, Charlie, can use your fin to track down the exact location of the river, we can all three get a drink."  
The two Pokemon nodded. Caterpie, after some thought, pointed an antenna toward the west. Charlie then concentrated, his head fin vibrating. He started running off. Crystal quickly scooped up Caterpie and took off after him. A minute or two later, they came to the river. Charlie immediately dove in.  
"Pie pie pie piepie pie?" Caterpie asked.  
"He's a water-type Pokemon. They love water, use it in their attacks, and need to swim in it every day to stay healthy."  
"Pie pie pie pie piepie pie piepie, pie piepie pie pie pie pie."  
Crystal was amazed. "That would be a great idea...moving toward this river...HEY CHARLIE! WANNA JUST MOVE CAMP HERE?!"  
"Mud KIP!"  
^Okay...that means I need to get my bag...which is back there...but I'm not like Charlie, with his ability to sense things, or Caterpie, who knows this forest like the back of her head, so I'll probably get lost...unless...^ Crystal took the rope she had purchased before her journey and unwound a bit of it. "CHARLIE! COME HERE!" When Charlie came running, she handed him the end of the rope. "Hold on to the end of this, and don't let go no matter what. You and Caterpie stay here, I'm gonna go back for my bag. This rope will lead me back to you guys, without me getting lost. Okay?"  
  
"Mudkip," Charlie said, bitting onto the end of the rope offered to him.  
"Pie."  
She easily made it to her bag and back without a hitch, only seeing one or two Poochyena along the way. "Okay, need to get some..." Looking up, she saw Caterpie by a pile of wood that would work well as firewood. "Caterpie???"  
"Pie piepie pie pie pie piepie..." she said shyly, Charlie nodding and waiting for the command to drop the rope.  
"Charlie, good job! And Caterpie...you didn't have to..."  
"Pie piepie pie..."  
"...I think I lucked out getting you Charlie, and catching you, Caterpie..."  
"MUD!"  
"PIE!"  
"Okay, I'll start the fire after I feed you two." She carefully poured out Pokemon food into two bowls from her bag, then devoted the next 10 minutes to starting a fire.  
~~~~~~~~/~~~~~\~~~~~~@  
Laying on her sleeping bag, Crystal stared up at the stars. ^So many of them...Millions of them, all burning...just because they can! That's like my journey now...I'm out here traveling with Charlie and Caterpie just because I can. I have a gift, now I need to use it. And if I can help others with it, then it makes my journey all that much better!^  
She sat up, looking at Charlie, sitting in front of the fire, and Caterpie, curled up next to Crystal's bag. Picking up Caterpie's Pokeball, she recalled the small bug Pokemon.  
Charlie looked up and shook his head. "Kip. Kip mud kip."  
"Okay, you can sleep out of the ball. But you MUST stay by my pillow all night long. That way, I know you're safe." Charlie nodded and did as she said. Crystal picked up her bag and pulled out a small blue blanket and put it over him. "So you don't get to cold." She then curled up in her sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep.  
But, little did she know, a few visitors wanted something that she had, didn't know right from wrong, and weren't afraid to steal from her open backpack... 


End file.
